Days after a snow and ice storm swept through the Great Plains a number of communities are still waiting for the power to come back on as temperatures hover in the teens.

In South Dakota volunteers have begun going door to door urging people without heat to report to one of the 68 shelters set up across the state.

The teams will identify people at risk because of no power, offer information on protecting their homes from freezing water pipes and other cold-weather problems, and provide transportation to shelters.

[Gov. Mike] Rounds said many local citizens, especially older people, don’t want to leave their homes, in spite of cold and lack of power. He quoted one local official as telling him, “I just can’t get them to go to a shelter.’’

The door-to-door teams will try to encourage shelter use. South Dakotans aren’t used to asking for help, the governor said.

Officials estimate that 10,000 miles of power lines were damaged in the storm.

One Response to “No Power”

When people refused to evacuate New Orleans before the storm hit, northerners scorned them. Now northerners refuse to evacuate freezing houses AFTER the storm has hit. If any freeze to death, will they be scorned, or pitied?